After the high res model was completed, I divided it into several main parts to export it as an OBJ. There are two reasons I did this; firstly so I could bake a Normal map for the separate parts of the model and secondly so the topology of the models could be tackled separately in Maya (Fig.09).

Fig. 09

Low Poly Model

Once I had exported the high poly models into Maya they could be used as a reference to create the low poly, final version of the games character (Fig.10). I used NEX and Maya's standard tools to do this. When the low poly model was created I began the UV mapping in Maya.

Fig. 10

The weapon is a single UV. I expanded the UV of the head, gloves and small parts of the character in order to show more details. The same parts in the UV are overlapping.

In order to avoid an error when baking AO and Normal maps, I separated the overlapping part after the UV was completed. Before baking I used triangulation to avoid the abnormal shifts in the following normal mapping (Fig.12).